What to text when she loves cooking elaborate dinners for friends

The part that matters most in her message is the friends. Someone who says she loves cooking elaborate dinners is usually describing a social habit: she likes having people over, she likes feeding them, and she likes being the one who made it happen. The cooking is the vehicle. If you reply only to the food, you will get a food answer back. If you reply to the people, the conversation opens up.

Also notice the word elaborate. It suggests she is willing to put in effort, and possibly that she enjoys a bit of showing off, in a warm way. That is a good trait to acknowledge lightly. You do not need to praise the effort itself. Ask what she usually makes, or what the group expects from her by now.

A recipe question feels like interest but often leads to a short factual answer. Questions about the table go further. Who usually comes, how long the dinners run, whether anyone has a standing role, whether the night tends to end with everyone still talking. Those answers tell you what kind of person she is in a group, which is the thing you actually want to learn at this stage.

If she mentions a particular dish she is proud of, you can ask what makes it take so long. That invites a story about a mistake, a fix, or a friend who keeps asking for it again. Stories like that are easier to continue than a bare description of a menu.

There is a pull to turn her hobby into an invitation, such as offering to come to the next dinner or suggesting she cook for you. Hold off. The first exchange should establish that you are interested in her world, not that you want a place at her table. If the conversation is going well after a few messages, you can say you would like to hear more about the dinners in person, which is a softer and more specific way to bring it toward meeting.

Keep the cooking as one thread among others. If she brings it up again later, that is a sign she wants to keep talking about it, and you can ask a follow-up then.